Fugitive mother, Susan LeFevre, charged with escaping Mich. prison

Courtesy of the Walsh familyThis undated image provided by the Walsh family shows Susan LeFevre, now known as Marie Walsh, who, after 32 years on the lam from a Michigan prison, was arrested Thur. April 24, by federal marshals at her home in the posh Carmel Valley neighborhood of San Diego. An anonymous caller tipped Michigan officials to her location.

LANSING -- A prosecutor on Monday charged a California mother of three with escaping a Michigan prison 32 years ago, complicating attempts to win back her freedom.

If convicted, Susan LeFevre could face probation or up to five more years in prison. She's already back in Michigan serving at least 5 1/2 years for selling heroin in 1974.

The 53-year-old Lefevre was arrested in April outside her home in an affluent area of San Diego. She had served about one year before climbing a prison fence in 1976 and starting a new life.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, whose jurisdiction covers the suburban Detroit prison from which LeFevre escaped, said Monday it's admirable LeFevre made something of her life, but she must accept responsibility for what she did.

"Inmates must know there is a consequence for escaping prison," Worthy said in a statement. Arrangements were being made to arraign LeFevre on the new charge.
If convicted, she would be serve the escape sentence after her drug sentence.

Barbara Klimaszewski, one of LeFevre's attorneys, said she regrets that prosecutors "decided to allocate the time and resources of Wayne County taxpayers to this case. I hope we can achieve a result that's appropriate."

Prison officials have said it wasn't uncommon for prisoners to walk away from minimum-security prisons in the 1970s.

Last week, LeFevre asked a Saginaw County judge to set aside her original heroin sentence.

Her attorneys said that at the time of her sentencing, when she was 19, the circuit court's policy was to give all Saginaw defendants in heroin cases 10 to 20 years, regardless of their individual characteristics or criminal records. The policy later was ruled improper by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Associated PressThis undated image provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections shows a booking photograph of Susan LeFevre, now known as Marie Walsh.

While the motion didn't specify how long her new sentence should be, Klimaszewski said a first-time offender such as LeFevre pleading guilty to dealing a small amount of drugs likely would get probation under today's law.

Saginaw prosecutors have until mid-August to respond to LeFevre's motion.

LeFevre was arrested during an undercover drug operation in Thomas Township, outside Saginaw, in 1974.

LeFevre has said she agreed to plead guilty in hopes of winning leniency from the judge but was given 10 to 20 years. Under sentencing laws from the 1970s, LeFevre will have to serve until 2013 before being eligible for parole, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

In jail, LeFevre has said, she was threatened by other inmates at the Detroit House of Corrections, now known as the Robert Scott Correctional Facility. One night, her grandfather and another relative agreed to meet her, and LeFevre walked across an open yard, threw her jacket over a barbed wire fence and climbed over.